Alexis
Soyer (1809-58) made his reputation as chef to the Reform Club,
but he was equally concerned to improve the standard of cooking
amongst the poor. A Shilling Cookery for the People is
full of practical advice, based on the assumption that many readers
could not afford to follow complicated recipes, or purchase elaborate
kitchen utensils. Soyer, who agreed not to attach his name to any
other cookery book at a similar or lower price, received £50
for the first edition of 10,000 copies. Within four months sales
had reached 110,000, and by 1867 more than a quarter of a million
copies had been sold.